On CM’s assurance, IMA takes back lock- out call of pvt hospitals

In a major relief to the state government and the people of Uttarakhand, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has suspended its lock- out call of all private hospitals and clinics based in the state from Tuesday. The IMA suspended its agitation following a meeting with the state chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Monday evening.

Informing about the suspension of their agitation, the general secretary IMA, Dr D D Chaudhury said while talking to The Pioneer that the CM has assured of changes being made in the Clinical Establishment Act. He, however, added that the IMA has only suspended its agitation for the time being. “If the assurances are not fulfilled the doctors would resume protest,” he warned.

The private doctors of the state spearheaded by Uttarakhand chapter of IMA are up in arms against the provisions of the Clinical Establishment Act. They are pressuring the state government to bring in a more acceptable Uttarakhand Health care Establishment Act. On the call given by the IMA, many clinical establishments, including private hospitals, stopped giving admission to new patients from Monday. The IMA had threatened that it would enforce a complete shutdown at all the private hospitals and clinics from Tuesday. In an attempt to thaw the ice between IMA and the state government, senior BJP leader Munna Singh Chauhan took a delegation of IMA for a meeting with the secretary medical health Nitesh Jha on Monday morning. The meeting, however, remained inconclusive.

The IMA had recently submitted an exhaustive draft document of the Uttarakhand Healthcare Establishments Act which, according to it, should replace the more stringent Clinical Establishment Act and submitted it to the state administration.

It would be recalled that the Uttarakhand High Court (HC) in a recent landmark judgment had directed the state government to seal all such hospitals and clinics not registered under Clinical Establishment Act. Acting on the order, the state administration had tightened its grip on the private hospitals, an action which infuriated the IMA.

IMA is of the firm view that the act should not be passed in its present form. It has suggested that Uttarakhand government should follow the Haryana model of the act where all the clinical establishments having less than 50 beds are exempted from the stringent provisions of the act.